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Nathan Williams is on edge every time he drives. He is prescribed medical cannabis for chronic pain but has been arrested twice in the past 18 months.
Mr Williams of Newton, Wales, was first pulled over by Dyfed Powys police while on a driving lesson with a friend last February. Despite showing them a copy of his prescription through a private UK clinic, he says officers “didn’t even want to look at the paperwork”.
Knowing that THC – a cannabinoid found in cannabis – can be detected in the blood for up to 30 days, Mr Williams refused a roadside drug test on the basis that his medication was legally prescribed and he wasn’t under the influence at the time.
“Officers tried to intimidate me,” Mr Williams, who was arrested for failing to provide a specimen and taken to a police station miles from his home, claims – adding that officers said he was going to “lose my licence either way”.
The case was dismissed. But months later, the 25-year-old was stopped and arrested by the same officer again. The case went nowhere for a second time.
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Regardless of these outcomes, the experience has taken its toll.
Mr Williams says he is now “anxious” about driving anywhere. The “intimidation” of being pulled over has had a “massive impact” on his mental health.
“Getting medical cannabis on prescription was supposed to make things easier,” he adds.
A spokesperson for Dyfed Powys Police did not comment on Mr Williams’ case to Byline Times but said that, when officers have concerns over “the quality of an individual’s driving, they can request a sample to determine if that person is driving while under the influence of illegal drugs or alcohol”, and that failure to comply with the request is a criminal offence.
‘When Things Go Wrong, They Go Dramatically Wrong’
Medical cannabis was legalised in the UK in November 2018 and it is estimated that more than 30,000 people are now prescribed it. But experiences like Mr Williams’ aren’t unique.
Drugs and drugs law charity, Release, has received multiple reports from people who have been detained or had their medication seized, despite showing police their prescriptions.
In April, Release launched the #ReleaseMyMeds campaign due to an “increase in reports of patients having negative encounters with the police due to their possession of prescribed cannabis medication”.
It hopes to collect reports of “negative experiences” to help illustrate the problem, as well as supporting people through the legal process and to bring about possible “legal claims”.
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Stephen Cutter, head of legal services at Release, told Byline Times that the campaign is about making sure people “have access to the justice they have been denied in the first place”.
In the past five years, Cutter said, when “things go wrong (with the police), it goes dramatically wrong, leaving people without access to their medications”.
This occurs, he said, when police carry out stop and search, or when people are pulled over when driving: “These are very stressful things to go through, particularly when you know you’re using your medication in a completely responsible way.”
Patients Treated Like ‘Criminals’
Medical cannabis is largely administered as either flower or oil and used to treat a wide range of conditions from anxiety, autism and ADHD, to chronic pain and epilepsy.
A lack of public awareness, combined with the fact it is largely only available privately – fewer than five NHS prescriptions for unlicensed medical cannabis products have been issued to date – means that patients are often treated differently.
The experience can vary, depending on where they live, which police force they fall under, and even which officer they deal with.